In the least shocking news ever, turns out voting in Florida has been a goddamn mess. Rick Scott refused to extend early voting, people had to wait in line for up to 9 hours, Florida Democrats sued the state to extend early voting, polls opened Sunday, then closed again, chaos has ensued, and now Doral is the new Palm Beach (circa 2000).
Dogs and cats living together.
But now, in response to the Florida Democratic Party's lawsuit, Palm Beach County will be accepting absentee ballots on Monday.
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher announced on Sunday that the county will be accepting the ballots from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at the office at 240 S. Military Trail in West Palm Beach.
"I understand there is a lawsuit that I haven't seen yet asking Miami, Broward and Palm Beach to provide in-person, absentee voting today and tomorrow," Bucher said on Sunday. "Rather than require legal action, our office is taking a proactive position and providing the service to our voters."
Meanwhile, in Broward County, voters can pick up absentee ballots on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment only by calling 954-712-1964 or 954-712-1974.
The ballots need to be returned to the main elections office in Fort Lauderdale or in Lauderhill by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
On Saturday, a record 18,915 Palm Beach voters stood in line to early vote. But the absentee ballot extension is the only way elections supervisors like Bucher can think of getting around Scott's refusing to extend early voting.
"The voters deserve to vote," Bucher said. "Since we have the ability to allow them to vote an absentee ballot at the counter, I think that's the right thing to do."
Of course, should the election come down to what happens in Florida (and that is a very real possibility because, FLORIDA!), we could very well see a lawsuit from the losing party, again putting the Sunshine State in the election spotlight and pretty much setting things up to have the rest of the country force us to cede from the union once and for all.
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